Stayed for a long weekend and had a blast. Booked online directly with the hotel and prepaid well in advance, only to find the room rates reduced later. When I brought this to the hotel's attention, they compensated us by offering my party (3 adults) complimentary breakfast each morning. This turned out to be very convenient because we started off each day with a good meal and it saved us the time of trying to decide where to go to eat each morning. The food selection was very good. On the weekend, a buffet with cold cereals, fresh fruit, yogurt, hot foods (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatos, pancakes, french toast), an assortment of breads, muffins, pastries, bagels; Juices, coffee, tea. If you forego the buffet, their breakfast menu offers a wide selection: fresh fruits, breads, eggs (any style) including omelettes and benedicts, waffles, pancakes, a la carte items. The hotel is conveniently located just off of Michigan Avenue, the Mag Mile! In the other direction, just two blocks away is Lake Shore Drive with a great view of the Lake, Navy Pier, beautiful homes. My traveling companions found the room to be small (Superior with double beds), but I found it to be fine. We were so beat by the end of the day that we watched some TV and crashed. Bathroom was modern and well stocked with lots of towels, soap, shampoo, lotion. Had drinks in the lobby bar (pricey, but that's true in any nice hotel in a big city) and the bartender, David, was good company. One member of our party ate in the bar the first night of our arrival (it was already late) and she said the food was very good (grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup).
As for our trip: We rented a car upon arrival at MDW to see some of the outlying sites (my family's roots in Humboldt Park and Logan Square) and Hot Doug's, 3324 N. California Ave (famous Chicago hot dogs). We arrived well after the lunch crowd (it was like 3pm on Friday) and we still had to wait over one hour. It was worth it! The line snaked around the building and down the block, but people were friendly, passed a menu around, made recommendations. They only have their fries (in duck grease) on Fri & Sat -- GOOD EATS! We returned the rental car to MDW that first night (didn't want to pay for parking in the City) and took the EL back to the hotel (orange, transfer to red) -- very easy. We purchased a 2-day GO card which allowed us into the Hancock Bldg, Sears Tower, River Cruise, Skyline Lake Cruise, Navy Pier, on-off trolley. The card gets you into many other places, including museums, but we ran out of time. We had Chicago Pizza at Gino's East (on Superior, I think). One night we cabbed it to a place called Sola (a great neighborhood joint in Lincoln Park, very popular as the place was packed by the time we left). En route, we drove by Wrigley Field! When our trip ended, we reserved with the GO Shuttle service. They picked us up at the hotel and had us back to MDW in no time! I hope to visit again and will definitely book with Millennium Knickerbocker.
